Digital Extra: The Station Fire

The state fire marshal has been recommended for reappointment by a search committee, and a woman who survived the 2003 nightclub fire wants him replaced.

10:17 AM EDT on Wednesday, June 15, 2005

BY MARK ARSENAULT
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE -- A survivor of The Station nightclub fire has started an online petition to discourage the reappointment of Fire Marshal Irving J. Owens, who is the favored candidate of a panel appointed by the governor to oversee a nationwide search to fill the job.

Victoria Potvin, a fire survivor and the president of The Station Family Fund, started the online petition on Monday, in response to a Journal story Saturday reporting that the governor's search committee would recommend Owens as its top choice.

As the president of the relief fund, Potvin has been closely involved with victims of the February 2003 fire. "An issue that comes up time and time again is the lack of accountability among government officials," she said yesterday.

Owens' name "comes up repeatedly," she said. "If that were an elected position, I don't think he would be reelected."

The petition, addressed to Governor Carcieri, states in part: "We the undersigned respectfully request that you, Governor Carcieri, in your position of authority do NOT reappoint this man [Owens] in his position. We need a NEW voice, a new future for . . . those who entrust their safety and that of their loved ones to the State of RI."

Potvin created the petition on Monday morning and e-mailed links to it "to a couple dozen" people, she said yesterday.

Word of her effort has spread: as of midafternoon yesterday, 169 people had electronically "signed" the petition. Some left brief comments critical of Owens.

The Rhode Island Association of Fire Chiefs has backed Owens for the position, and has defended Owens from criticism stemming from The Station fire, which killed 100 people. Records show that local inspectors, who are trained by the state fire marshal's office, failed to cite flammable packing foam used as soundproofing inside the club.

Owens has maintained that he provided proper training to inspectors.

His term as fire marshal expired a year ago. By law, Owens can work under the expired appointment until Carcieri reappoints him or appoints somebody else.

In February, Carcieri ordered a nationwide search for applicants to compete for the marshal's job. The state advertised the position in publications and on the Web at a salary of $88,668 to $99,471. Owens' pay after 10 years is budgeted at about $74,000.

Owens applied to be reappointed.

The nine-member panel the governor established to review applications for the job decided that Owens was the most qualified candidate.

The governor is not legally bound by the panel's recommendations, but will give them great weight, his spokesman has said.

Potvin hopes her petition will "raise awareness" that a number of people would consider Owens' reappointment "a slap in the face."

"Who knows what kind of weight this will carry," Potvin said, "but it's better than doing nothing."

Carcieri spokesman Jeff Neal said "the governor will take this petition into consideration in making his decision.

"He deeply sympathizes with the pain and trauma of everyone associated with this horrible tragedy. He has been one of the primary advocates for the victims and their families and he will remain one of the primary advocates regardless of who is chosen fire marshal."

View Victoria Potvin's petition, and see who's signed it, at:

http://www.petitiononline.com/Station/petition.html